Divinity
by Miratete
Summary: MASK tangles with VENOM in the northern Amazon jungle in this rewrite/fixfic of Episode 13: "The Creeping Terror." Ali Bombay joins the team on his first mission, and Gloria Baker brushes with things beyond her understanding.
1. Miss Wu

**Divinity**

**Chapter 1: Miss Wu**

**At first glance, it looked like a better quality trinket from a feng-shui gift shop, but knowing Miss Wu, it would be far, far better than that.**

-o-o-o-o-o-

It was a pleasant early fall day in Hong Kong. A heavy-set American in a dark grey suit sat in the shade of a maple tree, looking up into the green leaves, the first fire of autumnal color beginning to appear on them.

"Mr. Mayhem?" asked a small voice.

Miles Mayhem looked up to see a petite Asian woman in a black dress standing before him. She appeared doll-like; with pale skin, perfectly bobbed hair, scarlet lips, and yellow eyeshadow. A briefcase hung from one hand, and a purse of embroidered gold satin from the other.

"Ahh. Miss Wu. Right on time."

"Come."

They left the park and walked across the street to an antiques shop. She withdrew keys from her pocket and unlocked the doors, stepped inside, and switched off the security system. "We'll go to my office."

They entered the dimly-lit store, passing along a narrow corridor formed by antique furniture of all origins and ages, barely wide enough for Mayhem's broad figure. At the back of the shop they ascended a narrow staircase, coming eventually to a large office on the second floor.

"I have something very interesting for you, Mr. Mayhem," she said in her soft, high-pitched voice. She could appear so delicate and harmless, which only served her purpose all the more. No one ever suspected her dealings with the likes of him, and others like him. She wore her own physical frailty as a disguise.

He took the chair in front of the desk, eager to see what she had turned up for him this time. Her sense of what he liked and what he wanted was uncanny. She went to a cabinet and opened it up to disclose a safe inside. Opening that, she withdrew a Chinese lacquered box and placed it before him. "A man brought this to me two weeks ago, a British expatriate."

Mayhem opened the box, revealing what appeared to be a large crystal, brilliant and uniquely orange in color. One of the larger faces bore several rows of engraved heiroglyphs. At first glance, it looked like a better quality trinket from a feng-shui gift shop, but knowing Miss Wu, it would be far, far better than that.

"He said that it had been in his family for as long as he could remember, but now that he was getting old and his money was running out, he was selling off some of the family possessions. I bought a number of things from him, along with this crystal. He thought the characters were Vietnamese or Laotian."

"They aren't, are they?"

She smiled at him, her perfect red Cupid's bow lips curling up. "Malakan...an extinct civilization in the northern Amazon River basin."

Mayhem picked up the crystal and held it to the light. "Really?" This was getting interesting.

"I had Dr. Fong at the university translate them for me." She folded her slender fingers together and leaned with her elbows upon the desk. "And once I read the translation, I knew right away, Mr. Mayhem, that you would be my buyer."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Divinity continues in Chapter 2: The Creeping Terror

-o-o-o-o-o-

M.A.S.K. and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of DIC Enterprises, Inc and Kenner Toys. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.


	2. The Creeping Terror

**Divinity**

**Chapter 2: The Creeping Terror**

**Alex knelt down for a better look, gaping in fascination. "By Jove!" he exclaimed. "I've never seen caterpillars as big as these."**

-o-o-o-o-o-

The two men paddled their canoe along the small river headed southwards toward Paranari, a village on a the much larger Rio Negro, itself a tributary of an even larger river, the great Amazon. The dugout held a full load of fruits and vegetables for the celebration in two days' time at the village, where there would be a dedication ceremony for the new hospital. Word had it that the man who had given the money for its construction, a foreigner, would be there himself. With such an important guest coming, this party would be a grand one.

Coming along a straight stretch on the approach to the village, Haloh noticed something very different. He stared at the riverbank and the land beyond it, unbelieving of what he was looking at. "It cannot be! Look! There!" His brother lifted his head and gasped. In synchronous thought, they pushed their canoe to the bank and stepped out. What should have been dense rainforest was now a wasteland, stripped bare of all but the largest tree trunks. "What happened?"

"The trees and grass are all gone."

They walked into the unexpected clearing, gaping in disbelief. But as they came to the far edge, where the jungle resumed again, they could see the reason for the destruction. An army of caterpillars was swarming over the plants, and not just any caterpillars. They were longer than a man's hand and as thick as a spear shaft. "Giant caterpillars!"

"They are destroying the forest."

"Something is very wrong." Haloh ran back to the canoe and grabbed a sack. Emptying the fruit out of it, he managed to gather several of the caterpillars into it and tie the bag closed.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Scott Trakker stood beneath the spreading tree, one hand on his hip and the other grasping the shaft of a spear almost twice his height. The village children of Paranari had been showing it to him. The weapon belonged to one of their fathers, and as they had run off to play, Scott had decided to capture the moment permanently. "Hurry up and take my picture T-Bob!" he said, growing impatient with the robot's fussing over the many cameras he had brought along. T-Bob had turned up a box of old cameras at the mansion and had decided to pursue photography. This trip was going to be the start of a career in photojournalism for him, he told his creators.

"Hmmm...which camera should I use." T-Bob simply grabbed the one hanging in the center. "Okay. This one!"

"And take a good one," Scott demanded, striking his pose again.

T-Bob raised the camera and peered through the viewfinder. "Okay. Let me get you in focus." He centered the viewfinder and began to fiddle with the focus ring, just as a small caterpillar began to lower itself on a strand of silk from the tree above. It ended up dangling right in front of the lens, where the hapless robot managed to focus on it, where suddenly through the lens of the camera, it became a huge grey monstrosity, its prickly hairs and gruesome visage writhing threateningly before him.

T-Bob shrieked, dropping the camera and throwing his arms into the air. Seeing the branch above him as a means for escaping the horror, he extended his arms, gripped the branch, and retracted them quickly to pull himself up. But in his haste to escape, he overshot the mark and managed to hit his head on the underside of the branch, shaking the tree.

Dozens of caterpillars, startled by the jolt, plummeted down on threads of silk as the first one had.

He screamed again, suddenly surrounded by a cloud of hanging larva. He let go and dropped to the ground, falling onto his back.

"Are you okay, T-Bob?" Scott rushed to his aid and pulled the robot into a sitting position. "They're just caterpillars.

The caterpillars continued to descend around them, much to Scott's delight and the robot's fear. T-Bob screamed and ran off in the direction of the hospital, streaking past Matt and Dr. Ferreira.

"He's such a scaredy-cat," said Scott amusedly.

Matt Trakker had just finished his inspection of the hospital, and was now standing outside it with Dr. Antonia Ferreira, the hospital's administrator. She had been a local doctor for years, working out of a boat along the river, so when the Trakker Foundation had decided to build a hospital as part of the Paranari project, she had been the natural choice to manage it. She had worked with the riverside locals, the indigenous tribes who lived in the jungle, and the builders of the airstrip as well.

"I'm impressed. The new hospital is very well equipped," complimented Matt.

"I am happy you're pleased, Mr. Trakker," she said in her soft voice. "It never could have been built if it weren't for your generous contributions."

"I couldn't have built it without your assistance in coordinating all the necessary parties," he returned. "You seem to know everyone in these parts."

"Thank you. And on the day after tomorrow, on the full moon, we shall have the dedication ceremony and a huge festival to celebrate the opening."

After years of negotiations with the Brazilian government, Matt had finally secured a protection and sustainable development grant for a large portion of remote Amazon jungle, a parcel of land which followed a section of the Pico da Neblina National Park border along the Rio Negro. The presence there would mean protection for the forest from exploitation and the people from unwanted outside interference. The Paranari project had begun with the building of an airstrip, soon followed by a school, and then by a hospital.

Alex Sector came over. A small brown monkey had perched on his shoulder and was chattering happily. "Friendly chap, wouldn't you say?" The monkey was peeling and eating one of the local bananas.

Dr. Ferreira recognized it as a pet of one of the villagers. "You two seem to be getting along quite well."

"I should hope so. Back in the States, I own an exotic pet store." The monkey squeaked happily and stuffed the rest of the fruit into its mouth. And then to everyone's amusement, the creature slapped the peel onto Alex's head like a hat. "Hey! Stop that! My head is not a trash can." He reached up and removed the peel and waggled it at the monkey. It chattered all the more, laughing at its new friend.

Suddenly, two men ran up from the riverside, Indians in native dress, making a beeline for Dr. Ferreira.

Neither Matt nor Alex could understand anything of the conversation, but the agitated men had much to say. Though at one point they suddenly stopped talking and looked up at Alex, and then immediately down at his feet. Dr. Ferreira listened to what they were saying and began asking questions. Her placid expression turned to one of concern. And much was explained when one of the men opened the sack in his hand and emptied out three enormous caterpillars.

Alex knelt down for a better look, gaping in fascination. "By Jove!" he exclaimed. "I've never seen caterpillars as big as these."

"Nor have I," said Matt.

"That makes three of us. Look at the size of them!" remarked the doctor.

As the three larvae realized they were free, they began to crawl away, but Alex kept herding them back together.

"Haloh says that they found these caterpillars just along the small river to the north of here. Apparently there are hundreds of them eating everything they can. They have left a large section of the jungle completely bare."

"I take it then that these caterpillars are not normal to the region?"

"They look like the common ones that turn into yellow butterflies, but those are only a few centimeters long."

"That is most strange. Could you ask them where they found these caterpillars? This I'd like to see."

Dr. Ferreira translated Alex's question to the men.

"I want to go see too!" said Scott, who had snuck up behind his father.

"It might be a bit of a walk, so go get your hiking boots on."

Scott cheered and ran off toward the doctors' quarters—a row of cottages built to house the hospital's visiting staff and serve as guest lodgings as well.

"I don't have boots, so I'll just stay here at the village," whined T-Bob.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"We should be at the point those guys said the caterpillars were," said Scott, looking at the map that had been drawn for them.

"I don't think there are any caterpillars out here. Let's go back." T-Bob was not making this trip willingly.

Matt paused a moment, allowing Alex to hack away a little more of the undergrowth blocking the trail. "I don't see anything wrong."

"Maybe Haloh and his brother were exaggerating."

They walked on, picking up the pace where the trail was less overgrown.

"I would like to take some of these blighters back to the States for study," said Alex. "I have an entomologist friend who would be most interested as well."

"It looks open over there," said Scott, looking up from the map and pointing to an area where there seemed to be a clearing.

The party of three turned and headed for the brighter area. "What in the world...?" Matt exclaimed as he pushed aside some of the undergrowth. It was just as the two men had said—the forest had been stripped clean. "There's not a scrap of vegetation left!"

They walked across the empty ground, shocked at the complete loss of foliage Only the larger tree trunks remained, the frightfully bare skeletons of what had once been a thriving ecosystem. T-Bob lifted a camera and began snapping pictures. Alex pointed across the clearing to what appeared to be a pile of trash, strangely out of place in the otherwise pristine jungle. "Look over there."

Scott ran ahead to see what it was. "It's a huge pile of egg cartons," he said. "And there's something weird in them."

T-Bob took pictures of the mountain of cartons. "First the illegal loggers steal the trees, and then they leave their garbage behind."

"This wasn't done by loggers, T-Bob. They left all the most valuable wood behind."

The two men came over and Alex picked up one of the cartons. Inside each depression was something that resembled an eggshell, but not that of a chicken. "These are insect eggshells—the biggest I've ever seen. They're the size of a quail's egg."

"Just the right size to hatch out a giant caterpillar?" queried Matt.

Alex nodded. "Given the cartons, I'd have to say then that these eggs were brought in from somewhere else and allowed to hatch here."

"But how did they get so big?" asked Scott, picking up one of the frail shells in his fingertips and holding it up to the light.

Alex set down the computer and opened it up. "A computer analysis of some of that caterpillar eggshell should give us an answer."

Matt placed a piece of an eggshell onto the scanning pad.

"Scan indicates member of Lepidoptera insect order in ovum stage. Examination reveals that the egg has been genetically altered."

"Genetically altered caterpillar eggs?" puzzled Matt. "It just doesn't make sense."

"Hey Dad!" shouted Scott. "Come check this out!"

Matt and Alex looked up to see that he and T-Bob had gone over to the edge of the clearing where there was a small rise in the land. Scott was pointing at something along the edge of the jungle. T-Bob was doing yet another panic dance.

They walked over and met the caterpillar swarm, where right before them, thousands of enormous caterpillars were crawling forward and over everything in their path, their voracious maws taking in any plant matter they could find.

"Look at them eat!"Alex exclaimed. "At the rate they're going, the jungle will be stripped bare within a matter of days." He looked back over the bared area, trying to estimate how many acres had been denuded, when his eye caught something else. "Very interesting."

"Anything wrong, Alex?"

"Well, not exactly wrong, but extremely curious." He pointed across the clearing. "Look over there. It looks like some kind of wall. It goes all over the place."

"C'mon. Let's check it out." The party walked over to the low stone wall. It rose two to three feet above the ground, and though obviously constructed in ancient times, the blocks composing it were unexpectedly large and well finished. Beyond it were a couple more walls and two more piles of egg cartons.

"What is this wall for, Dad?"

Suddenly there came the sound of gunfire as the dust in front of them exploded. They ducked for cover behind one of the low walls as more rifle shots struck nearby.

Matt peered around the edge of the wall in the direction the shots had appeared to originate from, an unseen attacker in the shelter of the trees. "I'd like to know who's firing at us."

The sound of an engine heralded the arrival of their assailant. A man on a dark blue motorcycle with a sidecar burst out of the undergrowth, He had a rifle across his back, but was now shooting at them with the laser guns mounted to the sidecar.

And Matt did know who was firing. "Rax!" he snarled. "Run for the forest!" He grabbed Scott's hand and pulled him forward. The four of them charged for the safety of the trees as lasers struck at their position along the low wall. As they escaped into the undergrowth, the motorcycle drove up to the edge of the clearing. Rax raised his fist and threatened them in Portuguese, shouting after them. "I don't know who you are, but don't come back!"

Seeing that the intruders had fled, he mumbled smugly in English. "I don't think they'll poke their noses around here for a long while.

-o-o-o-o-o-

It was dusk by the time the foursome returned to the village. They were met by Dr. Ferreira's assistant, who informed them that dinner was waiting for them at the doctor's house near the hospital. "Scott, go ahead and have dinner. We'll catch up shortly."

"Going to call in the MASK team?"

Matt was caught off-guard his son's question. "You're getting too smart for your own good," he grinned. He rumpled Scott's hair affectionately. "Go get some dinner, and we'll be along in about fifteen minutes."

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Well, one thing's settled," scowled Matt. "VENOM's involved." He reached for the computer as he sat down, opened it up, and tapped at a number of keys.

Alex assumed what Matt called his 'thinking pose.' "I'm certain that they're behind the abnormally large caterpillars. The 'why' is still a mystery to me though."

The computer beeped a readiness alert, and Matt began the summons. "Priority one emergency. Select the best MASK agents for this mission. Alex Sector already present."

The computer processed information for a moment before announcing: "Selection complete. Recommended personnel:" and then proceeded to spit out a list of agents.

"Hondo McLean. Weapons specialist and field strategist. Vehicle codename: Firecracker."

"Gloria Baker. Champion race driver, black belt in kung fu. Vehicle codename: Shark."

"Brad Turner. Expert motorcycle and helicopter pilot. Vehicle codename: Condor."

"Ali Bombay. Champion motorcycle racer, rough terrain expert. Vehicle codename: Bullet."

"Selection approved. Assemble Mobile Armored Strike Kommand."

Alex crossed his arms, leaned back, and stared up at the ceiling of the cottage. "Baker and Bombay. Think he'll faint again?"

Matt laughed, remembering that day. "I don't think so. We've tested him since for the same reaction, but without success."

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Hey Ali, we're sending another rider out on the course, so keep your eyes peeled. I want you to practice targeting your stun gun on him. The gun has been disabled, so go ahead and go through the whole sequence of targeting and firing."

"Will do, Matt."

Ali was thrilled—his first day with his vehicle. Bullet had been a delight to ride, and he had done several loops through the wasteland obstacle course: first learning the handling, second learning the engine, and third learning the speed. The others there, his new teammates, had been so encouraging and enthusiastic about his performance.

And then Trakker and the mechanic and the bald guy with the red beard showed him what else he could do with Bullet. He had asked earlier about the big lever just above the handlebars, and was instructed carefully not to pull it...yet. They would tell him when the time came. Knowing that the MASK vehicles all had some sort of transformation mode, he suspected that this was part of it. Then the mechanic got on, started it up, and shifted the lever. The bike's undercarriage and tires folded open with a blast of air, creating a hovercraft. The mechanic rode it around a bit as Ali tried not to look too much like a kid suddenly given carte blanche at the toy store.

As he came around the back end of the circuit, he spotted the other rider they had sent out. "I have the target in sight."

"I'll walk you through the firing process again," came the voice of the mechanic over the radio. And he did just that, from bringing up the targeting monitor to locking on and then to firing. After a few successful times, he heard Trakker again.

"Think you've got it?"

"I think so."

"All right then. Time to make it a challenge. Brad, give him a run for his money."

Suddenly the other bike took off at high speed, with a taunt of "Come and get me, Ali."

"If you insist," he retorted.

It took two laps of the rugged course before Ali could get a target lock, and two more before he got what would have been a successful shot. The other rider was very fast and very evasive. And with each hit, he became faster and even more evasive.

But the others were enjoying the show, and he could see them cheering every time the lap took him past the garages. Eventually the two riders were called in for refueling, both for the vehicles and for the men.

Ali brought in Bullet, completely in love with the bike and feeling much more confident in his ability to handle it. He dismounted and took off his helmet, admiring the beautiful machine that was now his. He knew it would take a lot of practice to master the transformation process. Knowing when to make the switch from one mode to the other was the key, and the mechanic himself was not completely sure of what would work best. "You'll figure it out with time," he had been assured.

The other rider came in behind him and hopped off of the motorcycle he had been riding, pulled off his helmet, and held out his hand. "Ali, nice to have you on the team. I'm Brad Turner."

Ali shook it. "Brad Turner...wait! We've met before. You were out at the Sears Point raceway last spring. It was the first race for both of us, right?" He grinned. "No wonder I could not catch you on this course for so many laps."

"It was a pleasure getting to know you again out there. And from all the bullet holes in my back, I can say you're doing great."

"Bullet holes?" Ali choked. "I was told that the bike was armed with an electrical stun weapon."

"Brad's just teasing you, Ali," laughed the mechanic. "C'mon into the garage, you two. There's chicken and potato salad for everyone."

Turner clapped Ali on the shoulder. "Don't worry. I'm just trouble," he laughed and guided him toward the garage.

Trakker noticed them approaching. "Ali, let me introduce you to another member of the team," he called.

"Jeeze. It's like a family reunion today," Brad joked. "Normally we don't see much of each other."

From the wide door of the garage a woman stepped forth, dressed in jeans and a silky white blouse. "Ali, I'd like you to meet Gloria Baker."

Ali's breath caught in his throat. Had he heard Trakker right?

She stepped forward and pushed her sunglasses up onto the top of her head. "Ali Bombay, right?" she asked, holding out her hand.

Bombay stared. It couldn't be... Somehow his hand found hers. "You...you're Gloria Baker? The racer?"

"Yes. You've heard of me?" She was smiling...at him.

"You're on the MASK team?"

"Yes. Have been for quite some time." She was still smiling at him.

And the next thing he knew he was lying on his back on the dirt driveway, the others kneeling over him, lifting his head and trying to get him to drink some water.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Divinity"continues!

Chapter 3: The Investigation

Chapter 4: The Cavern

Chapter 5: The Light of the Crystal

Chapter 6: Taking Stock

Chapter 7: Divinity

Chapter 8: Rescued

Chapter 9: The Dancer

-o-o-o-o-o-

M.A.S.K. and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of DIC Enterprises, Inc and Kenner Toys. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.


	3. The Investigation

**Divinity**

**Chapter 3: The Investigation**

"**Anyone have a really big can of bug spray?" asked Brad.**

-o-o-o-o-o-

The transport plane came down the next morning at the airstrip and unloaded its cargo: six MASK vehicles and four of the agents that drove them. Trakker led the team straight out to the site of the devastation.

"Just yesterday, this part of the jungle was impenetrable," said Matt, aghast at how much ground the caterpillars had denuded since he and Alex had been chased off the previous afternoon. The six of them stood about, staring at the bared walls revealed by the loss of the forest. More of them had been uncovered by the caterpillars, and now they seemed to be the foundations of perhaps a village or a temple complex.

"Amazing! It would take weeks with heavy equipment to clear this much land," Ali estimated.

"What do you make of this wall, Hondo?" Alex inquired.

Hondo bent forward to examine the stone masonry more closely. "I'm not sure...Pre-Columbian at least. From from the condition of it, I'd estimate it to be at least a thousand, maybe two thousand years old. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say the walls are Malakan."

"Malakan?"

"An ancient South American civilization...assumed to be the predecessors of the Inca, though no conclusive archaeological evidence has linked them. All that remains of the Malaka civilization is a series of earthworks and a few stone buildings, and their written language.

"But what could VENOM have to do with this?" Matt folded his arms over his chest.

Gloria prodded a solitary caterpillar, one that had strayed from the swarm, with the toe of her boot. Brad and Hondo went over with Alex to look at the leading edge of the consumption, a huge mass of hungry caterpillars oozing as a slow wave into the jungle. Ali leapt up onto one of the walls and began to walk along it.

Rapidly approaching from above was the man who could have answered that question for him.

"We've got to get them away from there before they discover the map," growled Miles Mayhem. He transformed Switchblade from helicopter to jet mode, and zoomed down onto the MASK agents on the open ground below.

The roar of Switchblade's jets drew the team's attention, all looking up simultaneously to see the dark blue helicopter rapidly closing in on them.

"It's VENOM! Quick! To your vehicles!" shouted Matt.

The six of them scattered amidst laser fire, switching immediately to defense mode.

Switchblade was soon joined by Piranha and Jackhammer for the ensuing firefight, a battle that went on for quite a while, neither side gaining an advantage over the the other, and none of the vehicles taking any real damage. The maze of tree trunks and stone walls slowed everything down.

Thunderhawk had gone after Switchblade, but Mayhem kept getting further and further from the devastated area below. And after a while, Matt noticed that Manta was not actively engaged in the battle, but simply circling above it. "Hmm. That's strange," he remarked. "I wonder why Vanessa's up there and not down here. Better check it out." He pulled up, heading after Manta.

Mayhem was the first to notice. "Vanessa, you've got company."

"Just one more pass," she announced, busily aiming and snapping pictures with a camera mounted to peep through Manta's floor. "Cover me!"

"Finish it up. I'll handle him." Mayhem swung Switchblade around, firing hard on the red jet. Matt was forced away from the clearing again.

"Mayhem sure doesn't want me to get near her. I wonder what they're up to."

Vanessa hit the camera trigger a few last times, and then kicked the lever that retracted the camera. "I got everything we need. Eight by tens and wallet size," she added in a rare moment of humor. "VENOM! Mission accomplished!" She turned Manta hard and fled the scene at top speed.

"Then lets get out of here." Mayhem broke off his pursuit and flew away. On the ground, Piranha and Jackhammer ceased their attack and disappeared into the jungle.

-o-o-o-o-o-

After VENOM fled, the team regrouped and took stock of any damage, but there was little to report beside a few minor hits.

Alex, on the other hand, had plenty to report. "I hate to say this, but VENOM has created a potential ecological disaster," he announced. "Once you all had VENOM engaged, I began an analysis of the situation, and it doesn't look good." He picked up one of the oversized greyish caterpillars and set it on his sleeve. It reared up on its prolegs, grasping at the air futilely in search of something higher to climb on, or to perhaps devour. "These caterpillars are just larva now, but they will turn into adults, and those adults will breed more caterpillars. Normally, predators would keep their numbers down, but their enormous size has made them as large as their natural predators. There might not be anything to stop them from multiplying and consuming the entire Amazon basin."

"Are you certain?"

"Well, there is a chance that the process of genetic alteration has made them sterile, but to take the time to find out is to risk the first wave of reproduction." He looked at the others gravely. "I think we'll just have to destroy them."

"Anyone have a really big can of bug spray?" asked Brad.

"Blaster and Spectrum are probably our best bet in that case," said Matt.

Hondo groaned. "This is not going to be pretty."

Matt clapped Hondo on the shoulder. "Has to be done." He looked over at Brad. "Brad, see if you can find out what Vanessa was doing up there."

Brad nodded and hopped onto Condor, heading for the sky, while Matt and Hondo began to fire away at the swarms of caterpillars, destroying every one they could find. The others followed, killing any solitary larva with a long stick.

Turner hovered high above, looking down in shock at what once had been a tropic paradise, now stripped of all greenery down to the bare ground. The aerial view brought the seriousness of Alex's words into perspective. But the enigmatic stone walls stood out clearly. During the battle, they had appeared random and convoluted, but now with a slower look, there appeared to be a definite pattern. "So that was it." He switched on the computer's eye. "Now I see what Mayhem was after."

-o-o-o-o-o-

On the ground again, the agents crowded into Rhino to examine the information Brad had turned up.

"Amazing! We're standing on a giant map!" Ali exclaimed.

"Somehow Mayhem knew about this and was using the caterpillars to clear away the jungle," Matt concluded.

"It all makes sense now," said Alex, reaching for the computer screens. "Computer, decipher and analyze map, please.

The computer churned the data for a few moments, but soon had an analysis. "Geoglyph map was constructed by the ancient Malaka civilization several thousand years ago.

"Good call there, Hondo," said Gloria nudging him.

Hondo smirked.

"Geoglyph apparently points to the location of a hidden Malaka stronghold. According to legend the stronghold contains an undetermined source of great power," continued the computer.

Matt's hand clenched into a fist. "That's what VENOM wanted."

"Computer, interface object of map. Give us coordinates for the location of this stronghold," Alex instructed it.

The display reviewed the patterns of the geoglyph, aligning them to numerous geographical features in the area, eventually settling on a small region within the Imeri Mountains. Navigational arrows in red popped up on a topographical map around what appeared to be a tight canyon.

"I don't know what kind of power it has," Matt said determinedly. "But we'd better get there before VENOM does."

-o-o-o-o-o-

The narrow gorge cut through the edge of the plateau where VENOM had assembled per Mayhem's instructions. Mayhem held up the computer printout so the others could see. "According to the map, this is the place we've been looking for. The Malaka stronghold is through that gorge." He turned to one of his henchmen. "Dagger, drive through and check it out."

Dagger jumped back into Jackhammer and forged ahead along the rough road leading into the gorge. In a few minutes he reported back. "It's all clear. There's plenty of room for Switchblade to fly through."

"Let's go," Mayhem ordered, and they headed for their vehicles.

The vehicles moved into the narrow gorge, which soon widened into a deep, narrow canyon. Here, there were many ruins sheltered beneath the overhanging walls. The finely cut stone, so highly eroded where the caterpillars had been unleashed, had not suffered the same ravages of weather and time. Temples abounded, each guarded by monolithic statues and crisp walls. They followed the map to the point where it abruptly ended at a cliff face. An epic-sized doorway of carved stone split the otherwise nondescript cliffside, a monumental doorway leading to an underground cave.

"What we want is in that cave," announced Mayhem, and he flew Switchblade through the massive portal, the rest of his team following him.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Divinity"continues!

Chapter 4: The Cavern

Chapter 5: The Light of the Crystal

Chapter 6: Taking Stock

Chapter 7: Divinity

Chapter 8: Rescued

Chapter 9: The Dancer

-o-o-o-o-o-

M.A.S.K. and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of DIC Enterprises, Inc and Kenner Toys. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.


	4. The Cavern

**Divinity**

**Chapter 4: The Cavern**

"**It sounds to me like we just armed a bomb," drawled Rax, nervously shifting his footing on the stone floor.**

-o-o-o-o-o-

Inside the cave, Mayhem landed Switchblade and climbed out. He stood for a moment, surveying the area. The cavern was roughly conical in shape, with several finished doorways leading away from it. He reached into his pocket and withdrew what appeared to be a hand-sized chunk of glass.

"What's that?" asked Vanessa, staring at object Mayhem held up. He moved it into the light coming from the vehicles, revealing it as a large orange crystal with a faint tracery of occlusions running through it. Engraved on one face were several rows of heiroglyphs

"It's a little something I got from Miss Wu in Hong Kong. She knew I would be most interested in it."

The three agents leaned in closely. "What's written on it?" Vanessa asked.

"An ancient Malaka inscription. Miss Wu is most resourceful and had it translated. The inscription said that the map was built on the jungle floor, and it tells us of an ancient power source. Once that power source is in our hands, nothing can stop us." Mayhem took off his glove and held up the crystal in his bare hand, peering through it.

Suddenly the crystal began to glow with an orange light...and at the same time, something else did. One of the passages leading away from the central cavern was illuminated with the same orange glow.

Mayhem pointed. "It's that room. The power source is in there."

Leaving their vehicles behind, the group followed the light through a wide passage to a large chamber of dressed stone. Before them, set into a massive pedestal was a crystal the size of man—a giant version of the object in his hand. It pulsed softly, emitting a soothing, throbbing hum. Awed by the beautiful thing, they all stared. "Wow...a giant crystal," declared Rax.

"Ooh...It sure beats some of the rings I've seen," Vanessa drooled, astounded by its size and beauty.

Mayhem stepped closer, coming up to an altar-like table of carved stone between the crystal and the doorway they had entered through. A single slightly concave slab of stone formed the top of it. The surfaces of the altar and pedestal were inscribed with the same style of writing as on Mayhem's crystal. In response, the crystal began to pulse with a brighter orange light. "According to the inscription, once I insert this into the crystal, it should activate the power source."

Boldly he stepped up to the mothercrystal and raised the one in his hand to the obvious depression in the surface of the larger, one that matched the size and shape of the shard. He carefully placed it into the hollow and stepped back.

The whole thing burned brighter now, and waves of warmth and light began to push out from it, passing through the four enraptured observers and into the cavern beyond.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Alex brought the convoy to a halt. "According to the computer, our destination lies through that gorge."

"VENOM's tracks lead into it as well," observed Brad.

"Let's go." Matt tried not to worry. According to the computer, the object of the map was less than a mile away, and VENOM was still well ahead of them.

-o-o-o-o-o-

And as VENOM watched, the crystal's light began to change. What had been gentle spreading pulses became agitated flashes, now violet in color. The soft hum became a keening whine.

"I don't think I like this." Vanessa was the first to say it, but they were all certainly thinking it.

"Yeah. Me neither," added Dagger.

"It sounds to me like we just armed a bomb," drawled Rax, nervously shifting his footing on the stone floor.

Mayhem had to agree. "I'll fix that." He reached for the shard and tried to pry it out of the hollow, but drew back his hand with a shout. "It's jammed, and it's extremely hot!" he snarled, rubbing his fingers.

Dagger's nerves were the first to go. "I'm getting out of here." The big man turned and ran, not even waiting for Mayhem's approval.

"All right," conceded Mayhem. "Let's go. We'll retreat to a safe distance for now."

Quickly they returned to their vehicles and fled, just as MASK burst into the first cavern, swerving to miss the exiting VENOM vehicles. The cavern was now completely lit by the otherworldly orange light. MASK screeched to a halt, looking back at the fleeing mercenaries and forward at the passage emitting a brighter orange glow. Gloria hopped out of Shark and the two motorcyclists dismounted, heading for the bright light, Hondo on their heels.

Trakker was disturbed by the strange whine in the air. "Alex, that high-pitched sound. Scan the area. Something's wrong." Something had to be wrong. He could feel it deep inside his gut, something that felt amiss but familiar at the same time. He pulled up alongside Rhino and switched off the broadcasting setting on his communications link, sending a private message to Jackrabbit. "Can you feel it?"

"Very much so, old boy."

"Mayhem, you saw them, right?" Vanessa growled, looking back over her shoulder.

"This may work out better than I thought," Mayhem leered. "Dagger, turn back and seal them inside," he ordered. "If that thing does explode, I want it to take them all with it. Rax! Go with him."

The four MASK agents stood on the spot where only minutes before VENOM had been. And like the others, they were equally transfixed by what they had found. Brad was the first to speak. "Matt, there's this huge crystal thing here. It seems to be the source of the orange light and that whine. I think it's our power source."

"I knew it," Matt whispered to himself.

The computer whirred and barked out a response to Alex's inquiry. "Scanner indicates a powerful energy source with erratic frequencies nearby. Energy patterns are indicative of overloading."

"Matt, this doesn't look good." Alex relayed the information to the others. "There is a chance of an explosion, and we don't have much time."

Matt's stomach sank. This was bad news. VENOM had found the power source first and had managed to activate it, but something was very wrong. He paused for a moment, trying to formulate a plan, and came up with a simple one. "VENOM was retreating and I think we should too. Let's get out of here, pronto. And I'm going after Mayhem."

The four in the chamber ran back toward their vehicles, light-footed Brad in the lead.

The two VENOM agents had turned around and were heading back inside, barely missing Thunderhawk on its way out. "Watch out! Some of them are coming back!" Matt announced.

"They're trying to escape!" Dagger complained.

"Well immobilize them and then bring down the ceiling. How hard can it be?"

"All right, boss."

Rhino barreled for the entrance next, battering ram out, fully aware of the fact that Jackhammer and Piranha were there in front of him. They fired a full barrage, but the huge truck kept coming. "He's going to hit us!" yelled Rax, and he quickly lurched Piranha to the side, Dagger doing the same. But they recovered quickly and entered the large cavern throwing everything they had at the parked MASK vehicles and the agents headed for them. A launched missile spiraled out of Jackhammer's front end.

"Aura! On!" Gloria threw up a wall in front of herself and Ali behind her, but Brad and Hondo had gotten out of range. The missile careened into Shark's front end, the explosion blasting its engine apart, knocking over Condor, and throwing Brad against the cavern wall. "Brad!" she cried and dropped the force field. She ran straight for Brad, as did Ali.

"Brad! Brad!" Ali stammered, grabbing his arm, but he was unresponsive.

"Hondo! Brad's been hurt!" Gloria called. "We need to get him into Firecracker and get him out of here!"

"I'm on it, Gloria!" He had parked Firecracker on the opposite side of the cavern and he and his vehicle had been well out of range of the missile's explosion.

Hondo circled around to the other three agents. Gloria opened the door and Ali hoisted Turner's limp body onto the front seat.

"Let's blast it!" laughed Dagger, backing up into the entry passage to the first cavern. "Make sure those guys stay in there.

"Let me take a few more shots at 'em," drawled Rax. He drove in, firing again at the group around Firecracker.

"Hondo, get out of here!" Gloria shrieked, slamming the door closed.

As Hondo took off, careening across the cavern floor, Rax came at Gloria and Ali. "Stilletto! Fire!"

Gloria grabbed Ali and threw him to the ground, but kept a hold of his armored suit so his weight pulled her down, and she landed sprawled atop him. Dozens of darts splattered the dust all around.

"Get out of there Rax!" Dagger shouted, annoyed that Rax had gone back into the cavern. "I'm going to knock this roof down!" He began firing at the ceiling in the passageway just as Rax passed through.

Hondo could see what Dagger was doing, and he floored the accelerator, aiming for the exit. "Hold on Brad. I'm gonna get us out of here!" And dodging the first of the falling boulders, he managed to catch up to Rax and exit just behind him.

As for Gloria and Ali, they were just struggling to their feet as the exit began to collapse. They stared in stunned silence as the rockfall cut them off from the rest of the team. The cavern was as bright inside as day now, but the orange light felt angry. Violet pulses throbbed threateningly

-o-o-o-o-o-

Divinity continues in:

Chapter 5: The Light of the Crystal

Chapter 6: Taking Stock

Chapter 7: Divinity

Chapter 8: Rescued

Chapter 9: The Dancer

-o-o-o-o-o-

Thank you for reading this piece of MASK fanfiction! I hope you're enjoying it and the changes I've made to Episode 13: The Creeping Terror. I have several other MASK pieces up for reading, and more on the way once "Divinity" is complete. Please feel free to send me private message.

M.A.S.K. and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of DIC Enterprises, Inc and Kenner Toys. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.

-o-o-o-o-o-


	5. The Light of the Crystal

**Divinity**

**Chapter 5: The Light of the Crystal**

**He stepped back but did not release it from the touch of his fingertips. "It's not just a power source." **

-o-o-o-o-o-

"We're trapped!" stammered Ali, and he looked to the doorway leading to the chamber of the crystal. "And that thing's about to explode. Matt, can you read me? Matt!?"

"Alex! Matt! Are you there?" Gloria called, fear creeping into her voice. "Can anyone hear us!? Hondo?"

Communications had been cut off.

Ali looked around, and decided they might try escaping through another of the passages connected to the room, and he chose the one most distant from the crystal. Perhaps it could get them far enough away to survive the impending explosion. The whine was now painfully sharp and ominous. "Let's go down that way," he said pointing and began to run.

"Ali, wait! I can't run."

He turned back to see that Gloria had stumbled, and coming back to her, he saw that her left side was peppered with Stiletto's darts, three of which on her thigh were surrounded by spreading spots of blood. "You've been hit!"

He ran across the cavern to Bullet and drove it over to her, and she limped aboard behind him. He switched to hovercraft mode immediately after starting it, and took off for the dark passageway he had selected, Gloria clinging to his waist.

The passage went for some distance, eventually ending in a cavern that dropped away into a streambed. Clear water flowed through it. The orange light did not penetrate here.

"End of the road." Ali said and brought Bullet to a stop beside the stream.

"But no explosion."

"No."

They tried to reach the others again, but without success.

"How are you feeling?"

"A little dizzy. Maybe I should lie down for a bit."

He helped her off the bike and onto a sandy patch of ground, noting that there was a lot of blood on her leg—the wet spots had fused into one. "There's a a medical kit under Shark's front seat," she said. "How long do you think we should wait for that thing to go off?"

"How long do you think you can hold on?"

"I...I don't know."

"I'll give it ten minutes. If there has not been an explosion, I'll go investigate."

"I wish we could contact the others. Or at least the computer so we could know what that thing is doing. That energy source must be causing some sort of interference field."

He grabbed Gloria's hand and clutched it tightly. "Don't worry. I'll look after you."

"Thank you, Ali."

"I owe it to you. After all, if you had not thrown me down, I would have been the wounded one."

"I just hope that Brad's all right."

"He was alive when I put him into Firecracker, but who knows how injured he was. I hated to move him, but we didn't have any choice."

"I know."

They waited in silence, the marker lights of Bullet the only illumination to the cavern here. Both continually checked their watches, and eventually the ten minute mark passed. "I'll go back and look," announced Ali. If it suddenly explodes, there's no sense in both of us getting killed."

He took off on Bullet, the white headlamps filling the small cavern once again. Gloria watched the light fade, and tried to be brave in the complete darkness. Her adrenaline was wearing off and her leg was starting to hurt.

After what seemed an eternity of sitting alone in absolute darkness and feeling the pain rising in her leg, he returned. "It hasn't exploded. In fact...it looks calm now. It's just glowing peacefully."

"Did you bring the medical kit?"

"It's waiting for us in the room with the crystal. The light is better in there."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Ali lifted her from the bike and carried her across the chamber of the crystal, sitting her onto the stone altar. The crystal, steadily glowing the same orange, suddenly pulsed, sending out a blue flash of light. "That was strange. It did that when I set you down."

"Yeah. Maybe it thinks we're going to make a sacrifice. " She reached inside of her vest and pulled out her pocketknife. "Ali, inside Shark's glove compartment is a pair of needle nose pliers. I think I'm going to need them, if you can get them."

He nodded and ran to fetch them. Gloria opened her pocket knife and began to cut open the leg of her jeans, pulling apart the fabric to expose the darts. The one in her calf was barely anchored, and it came out as the fabric was pulled away. Two in her thigh had not gone in far, only about halfway, but the last was nearly completely embedded in flesh.

Bombay returned with the pliers and opened the medical kit's plastic case atop the altar.

"Sterilize those pliers for me. I'm going to pull these darts out with them."

"Gloria, what if they've pierced an artery or a vein? You could bleed to death."

"I know the shallow ones haven't. But I'll take a risk with the other."

He glanced at her, questioning her choice.

"Quickly, Ali. While I've still got the strength of mind."

He sterilized the pliers as best he could with the alcohol swabs in the kit as she pulled several wound dressings out of their packages and set them ready.

"My father wanted me to become a doctor, but I liked fast motorcycles too much," he said. "I suppose right now I am living both."

"Right now, I have to side with your father, but once this is all behind us, I'll be back on your side."

"Let me pull those darts out. You just hold on."

"All right. You probably have a steadier hand right now anyway."

She lay back, her hands gripping the edge of the stone altar. Ali detached his gloves and stripped them off, folding them together and tucking them beneath her head as a bit of padding. He whispered a quick prayer and raised the pliers. "I'm going to pull them as quickly as possible—the two shallower ones first. Are you ready?"

"Do it." She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth.

The shallow darts came out easily, but the deeper one took more work, leaving Gloria whimpering and in tears. When it was out, she propped herself up on her elbows looked down at the damage. Three darts sat on the corner of the stone slab. What she had expected to be a huge hole in her thigh was only a widened cut. She reached down to squeeze it closed and slow the bleeding. "I think I'll live," she managed weakly through her tears.

"From what the others say, it would take a lot more than three darts to stop you."

Ali blotted some of the blood from her leg and then began wrapping her thigh in bandages, but he soon realized that more pressure would be needed to close the cuts. He untied his headscarf, slid the medallion off of it, and started to wrap the length of white silk over the dressings. "Ali...your scarf. It'll be ruined," Gloria gasped.

He smiled up at her. "I have others."

She fumbled through the medical kit for something to kill the pain, and found what they simply called "the yellow pills." Bombay fetched some water for her and she swallowed a dose. "Any other holes to take care of?" he asked.

"There's a scratch on my calf, but after these three, I think we can just let it go."

He began to pick up the bits and pieces of the impromptu surgery and tuck the medical kit back together. "I'd ask you how you were feeling, but I can't imagine you have anything good to say."

She laughed weakly. "You're right. I don't." She lay back down on the altar slab and sighed. "Poor Shark. I feel like someone broke my favorite toy."

"We're lucky it didn't explode. Nor did this crystal."

"Buddie puts in these safety valves to cut back on damages if an engine gets hit, and they seem to have worked. I should go see how bad it is though."

He closed the lid of the kit. "You should lie down and rest. It may be a while until we can get out of here and get you to a real doctor."

"I still wish we could contact the others. I'd feel better letting them know we were alive."

"Don't worry. They know where we are. And there is plenty of time to be found. Notice that the smoke has cleared from the room?"

"Well yes."

"That means there is airflow. And we have water. We'll be fine for a few days at least."

"You think it might take that long to find us?"

"Probably not that long, but it's good to know we are not in any danger. You relax. They know where we are. But I will go look at the fallen rock and see if I can find a way through it."

She sighed and stretched out on the altar stone, the crystal pulsing again. "I guess it's just hurry up and wait now."

He approached the crystal on its pedestal, looking intently at it. It glowed calmly, pulsing now and then but without the angry whine or flash. "A strange thing this is. All the time I was pulling those darts from your leg, it felt as if it was watching me."

"Watching?" She tilted her head to look.

He raised his hand, and where he reached for it, the orange glass deepened in color and danced with blue sparks. "It's all right..." he said softly to it. He stretched his arm closer. The sparks solidified into streams, wrapping about his hand, drawing it inwards.

"Ali!" squeaked Gloria, pushing herself up to see better. "What's it doing?"

His hand ended up pressed against the crystal, and he spread his fingers open. The surface went dark, but the blue light danced across it. The rest of the crystal throbbed with orange pulses. "It wanted human contact," he said slowly with a hint of surprise in his voice.

"What?"

He leaned forward and pressed his cheek up against the smooth face of the crystal and closed his eyes.

"Ali...be careful! We don't know what that thing is."

"I can feel it Gloria. It's alive."

"Alive? It's a giant crystal."

"The energy inside it is a living energy...the same energy our masks contain. It feels so much like Vortex." He stepped back but did not release it from the touch of his fingertips. "It's not just a power source." Ali looked up at the crystal, an enraptured expression on his face. "It's a god."

"What are you talking about? A god?"

"There are many gods...and VENOM found one." He continued to touch it, stroking the smooth faces reverently. "Where I come from there are many gods with many worshipers. This one lost its worshipers and has been forgotten. No wonder it was angry and lonely."

Gloria slid from the altar and limped over to him. "Ali, it's just a giant crystal with some kind of strong energy field, like a giant version of the one Matt uses to power up our masks."

"Exactly," he laughed. "I suppose it might be a bit difficult to understand, and you don't have to agree with me." He looked at her with all seriousness. "Just keep in mind that it's much more powerful than you or I, and it is aware of us."

Gloria shook her head from side to side.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Divinity" continues in:

Chapter 6: Taking Stock

Chapter 7: Divinity

Chapter 8: Rescued

Chapter 9: The Dancer

-o-o-o-o-o-

Thank you for reading my piece of MASK fanfiction! I hope you're enjoying it and the changes I've made to Episode 13: The Creeping Terror. And I'm not nearly done unveiling Ali Bombay yet—just wait for Chapter 7! Please feel free to send me a private message.

M.A.S.K. and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of DIC Enterprises, Inc and Kenner Toys. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.

-o-o-o-o-o-


	6. Taking Stock

**Divinity**

**Chapter 6: Taking Stock**

**Alex leaned back into his chair and smiled mysteriously. "Then in that case, I have a sure fire plan to get them and the vehicles out of there."**

-o-o-o-o-o-

Matt had not expected to ever need the services of the hospital his foundation had just built in Paranari, but suddenly it had come in very handy. Matt, Alex, and Hondo sat around Brad's hospital bed as he lay back against the pillows, resting after treatment for a concussion and several cracked ribs. He was awake now, and in on the deliberation with the other agents.

"As far as we know, Gloria and Ali are still alive. The crystal gave no indication of exploding because the erratic readings simply died down," explained Alex.

"The last I saw was Rax coming in after us, and then chasing me out. Just as I got through, Jackhammer brought the ceiling down in the passageway to the main cavern. So I'd expect they're on the other side of that rockfall." Hondo folded his arms over his chest. He had gotten Brad out, but Gloria and Ali had been left behind. He was still kicking himself for not having told them jump onto Firecracker.

"Imprisoned by a whole lot of rock. How long do you think they can survive being trapped in there?"

"Several days easily. Condor and Bullet will be carrying some water, and there's a survival kit inside Shark, provided it wasn't destroyed completely," said Matt, counting up the resources he knew of.

"It didn't appear to be, but the front engine was gone,"said Hondo.

"So how do we get them out of there? Condor's anti-matter cannon might have done it, but it's on the wrong side and chances are it was damaged," said Brad. "If it was operational, I'm sure they would have tried using it."

"Blaster and Spectrum are pretty much drained from pest control..." grumped Hondo. The frustration was chewing him up inside.

"We could line up the vehicles and just see what the weapons can do," said Matt, "but only as a last resort. There's too much risk of collapsing even more of the cave and possibly damaging the ruins, and that energy source is such a big unknown factor."

"You said they could survive several days. Would it be fair to make them wait until tomorrow?" asked Alex.

"I suppose..."

Alex leaned back into his chair and smiled mysteriously. "Then in that case, I have a sure fire plan to get them and the vehicles out of there."

"I think you've got the same idea then that I have." Matt already had his computer connected to the satellite. "Computer, level two request. Connect me to MASK headquarters."

-o-o-o-o-o-

As he returned from exploring the other passageways, Gloria woke and propped herself up on her elbows. "Mmm...Ali. What time is it?" she mumbled.

"About nine 'o clock. How's your leg?"

"I'm trying not to think of it."

"Good. Would you mind if I got some sleep?" he asked. "I'm starting to yawn."

"No, go ahead. You've been awake longer than I have.

"Thank you." He pulled one of the white and silver thermal blankets from the survival kit and unfolded it. "I'll just be right here. Call if you need me." He leaned up against the chamber wall and spread the blanket over himself.

"Ali, thanks again for helping me with my leg. I hate feeling so helpless."

"You were not helpless, Gloria. But I could not just stand by and watch you bleed."

"I've always looked after myself. I was never one of those girly girls that sat up on a pedestal and waited for the guys to wait upon me. I liked fast cars and the smell of engines, and that doesn't go well with being girly."

Bombay chuckled. "And your mother did not object?"

"Nope."

"You were a lucky child to be raised with such freedom."

"I suppose. But I do like to wear dresses and perfume sometimes, so I'm not a hopeless case."

"Of course not." He sighed, reminiscing about his own youth. "I suppose I was given a lot of freedom too. Like I said, my father wanted me to be a doctor. And my mother wanted me to be a dancer. And I just wanted to ride motorcycles like lightning."

"Your mother wanted you to be a dancer?"

"Yes, very much so. Her family has a long history with Indian classical dance, so it was only natural that I should as well. She made my brother and I take lessons as soon as we were old enough. I was fairly good too, though my brother was better."

"So what happened with that? Did you get out of it as you got older?"

"Hardly," he chuckled. "She allowed me to pursue motorcycles when I was a teenager, but only if I kept up the dance lessons and performances and my schoolwork. But, it was not all bad. When my brother and I practiced, the girls would all gather around to watch, and they would bring us sodas and candy too. We could always find a date for the movies."

Gloria smirked. "You're making this up."

His brow furrowed. "I am not lying. When I had the opportunity to come to the United States to race, I had to make two promises to my parents before they would let me go."

"Let me guess...to keep up your dancing...and...hmmm...stay away from hamburgers?"

"You are correct on the first."

"And the other promise?"

"I had to promise my father that I would return to India someday to marry an Indian woman. He swore to me that American women were all decadent, disobedient, and selfish, and that I was not to have anything to do with them." And then he suddenly looked a her, an embarrassed expression on his face. "When I do return to my family, I shall let him know that it is not the case."

She smiled, realizing how suddenly awkward he felt on repeating his father's words to her. "Ali, if you really are a dancer, you'll have to show me sometime."

"I would rather you came to see me race."

"I've seen you race. I was there with Matt at Sears Point that day you first met him, but I will come watch you again sometime."

"You were there?"

"We were there with Brad. It was his first motorcycle race."

"On the day I was introduced to Bullet, Brad was there, and I remembered him from Sears Point...he was the one with the bright blue bike."

"There were four MASK agents out there that day—not on a mission...just having fun. Matt, myself, Brad, and Buddie."

Ali's mind raced, trying to recall the faces from Sears Point. "Buddie...the mechanic. I don't remember him being there, or you."

"That's how it usually is with us, and for the better. He was in the pits with Brad's bike. He and Bruce built that bike for him to use in the races."

"That suddenly explains the feelings of deja vu when I was brought onto the team."

"Brad has always been so nice to me. I met him in the pits just before the races at Sears Point, him and his girlfriend."

"His girlfriend?" She thought a moment, and then laughed. "That must have been me."

"You? I didn't realize you two were a couple."

"We aren't. We just act that way sometimes." She laughed again. "I'll stop talking and let you sleep."

"I do not mind. If it takes your mind off of the pain, please keep talking."

"Now don't you go putting me on some pedestal," Gloria chided, half teasing and half serious.

"I will put you on a pedestal and wait upon you...at least until a real doctor takes a look at your leg."

"You're very kind, Ali, and I'll try not to be so stubborn...at least until I get to a real doctor." She lay back down and pulled her own survival blanket over her. "Goodnight, Ali."

"Goodnight, Gloria." He pulled Vortex on and lay down, curling up into a fetal position beneath the blanket.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"All ready to go?" Gloria asked. Her hair was up in childish pigtails that bobbed playfully as she moved.

Buddie was wiping down the overpowered motorcycle with a towel. "His bike is." He proudly patted the seat of the bright blue rocket he and Bruce had put together for Brad. "But Brad's still nervous as all get-out."

"And he's usually so confident. Where's he at?"

Buddie pointed to the wall between the pit area and the track, where Brad was leaning up against a light post talking to a couple of the other racers. "You should go give him a little of your confidence, but quickly. They'll be closing the pits to visitors in about five minutes."

Gloria nodded and bounced over to Brad, who greeted her with a big swinging hug when she showed up. "Well there you are! I was beginning to wonder if you and Matt were going to make it." He turned to the other racers and nodded. "Excuse me a moment."

"I just came to wish you luck and give you a bit of confidence before the race started."

He laughed. "Could I have a kiss instead? That's all I need."

She gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Now that I have that, I'm sure to win."

"Of course you will."

Another of the racers, this one dressed in red from head to toe, bent forward. "Could I have one of those too?"

"Sorry...I only brought one with me today. Maybe next time." Gloria winked at him and then turned back to Brad, the smile gone and a look of strength in her eyes. "Good luck out there. I know racing's in your blood and you'll do well. I've watched you practice and you've certainly got what it takes." She took his hands and squeezed them tightly. Then releasing him, she trotted away, waving at Buddie on the way out.

The red-dressed racer grinned at Brad. "Cute girl you've got there. And she likes racing too."

"You don't know the half of it."

"Well, I suppose I should go get ready," he said, looking up at the huge clock atop the digital screen.

The Indian racer, another first timer, dressed in the gold and white stripes of his sponsor, stepped forward and took Brad's hand. "I would wish you good luck too, but I do not want to undo any of your girlfriend's magic. It is a superstition we had back in Mumbai."

Brad chuckled. "Is it safe for me to wish you luck?"

"If you want to."

Brad shook his hand. "In that case, good luck out there. Hopefully our first races will be good ones for us."

Ali nodded. "Good is all I hope for, but I'll drive like I'm aiming for excellent."

"Good philosophy, my friend. See you after the races." Brad turned and headed back to where Buddie was waiting with his motorcycle, the blue brighter than the California sky above.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Divinity continues in:

Chapter 7: Divinity

Chapter 8: Rescued

Chapter 9: The Dancer

-o-o-o-o-o-

Decent rewrite so far of Episode 13: The Creeping Terror? And the best is yet to come when we dip into metaphysics and religion in the next chapter. More flashbacks and gratuitous Gloria Baker scenes as well! And if you thought Ali Bombay was intriguing enough, wait until the secrets start to spill.

Please feel free to send me a private message through this site.

M.A.S.K. and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of DIC Enterprises, Inc and Kenner Toys. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.


	7. Divinity

**Divinity**

**Chapter 7: Divinity**

"**The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed" -Albert Einstein **

-o-o-o-o-o-

Ali woke, and moments later his mask reacted to his change of state and came to life. He looked at the clock display in the corner. Five in the morning. They had been inside the cavern for more than twelve hours now. For a few minutes he lay there focusing on his dreams, setting the images into his waking state. There had been a prince in an orange robe and white turban, a prince and his new bride, and he had been asked to dance for them. He loved dreams of dancing, for gravity could not hold him to the ground.

He stood up, took off Vortex, and stretched, looking about the chamber. Gloria still lay on the altar, on her side now, facing the crystal with her injured leg upwards.

He took off his gloves once more and unzipped his jacket. Tossing it beside his mask, he stretched further, trying to get blood flowing to his stiff muscles. Sleeping on the cool cavern floor was not an experience he wished to repeat. As he flexed, he kept his eyes on the other agent, deciding eventually that she was still asleep.

Quietly he padded across the stone floor to the altar, hoping not to wake her up.

She had made a pillow of her arm, and the pain written on her face the night before had faded. In fact, in the gentle orange glow she looked like a sleeping goddess...his goddess...the one he had followed for so long. Gazing at her, he sighed. "I have so much to tell you, Gloria," he whispered in Marathi, "but how can I?" He reached beneath the black tee-shirt he wore as an undershirt and clasped the pendant hanging around his neck, a figure of Vithoba on a throne, an incarnation of Vishnu.

Gloria suddenly stirred, and Ali turned quickly to the crystal, taking several steps toward it. It would be much too awkward for her to wake up and find him staring at her.

The crystal, sensing him close by, thrummed and glowed brighter.

Gloria remained asleep.

"Good morning," he greeted it, still in whispered Marathi. "Yes, I'm awake now. I slept well." He stepped close and placed his hands against the smooth faces, a blue glow rising beneath his touch. "I think I dreamt of you in the night." He touched his forehead to the crystal and stood there a while, gazing into the crystalline body of the deity, studying the lacy network of fractures inside of the orange glass. Sometimes it appeared that pulses of energy traveled along the network. "You were a prince, and you had been given a new bride."

He suddenly stiffened and looked back at the altar, where Gloria lay atop it, swaddled in the white and silver blanket.

His hands trembling, he tore himself away and walked over to his motorcycle.

As quietly as possible, he pulled up Bullet's kickstand and walked the bike out of the room and toward the main cavern.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Ali sat on one of the rock outcroppings near the garage, drinking cold tea from a sports bottle and watching the blazing orange Nevada sunset. Already the morning seemed like it had happened last week, a morning like no other in his life.

"So how do you think you did today?"

He looked up to see Matt approaching, a coffee cup in his hand. "I think I did well, but I feel like there's so much more to learn."

Matt sat down on the rock beside him. "There is, but I'm confident you'll get it. Just wait until Bruce and Alex start fitting you for a mask tomorrow. Then you'll feel completely lost."

"Are they that hard to use?"

"They are at first. But once you discover the right mask for you and learn how to use it, you'll feel like you could rule the world."

He chuckled. "I suppose that's good encouragement to keep trying."

Matt sipped his coffee, watching the light of the sinking sun gild the clouds. "I have something to ask you, Ali."

"Yes?"

"It's not normal for people to faint when they meet Gloria."

The pleasant calm of the evening and the fading euphoria of the day suddenly crashed down all around him. Why did he have to bring this up? Why could they not just forget it had happened?

"Could you give me some kind of an explanation?"

"It's nothing to worry about. I assure you it won't happen again."

"I do have to worry about it, unless you can tell me why it happened."

Ali felt his throat tighten as if he were being strangled by his own nervousness. "It...it's a secret I've kept for many years. I do not wish to reveal it, but if you can promise me that you will not tell anyone, I will explain." His words were slow and deliberate.

Matt chuckled. "Ali, there are so many secrets swimming through my head that I'm surprised the PNA and the US government don't keep me under lock and key."

"I would die if she ever knew."

"By she, I assume you mean Gloria?"

He nodded.

Matt glanced around the area. "There's no one here. Tell me."

Ali sighed, gathering his thoughts. From beneath his jumpsuit he pulled out a large pendant of an Indian god, a flattish piece of bronze in the shape of a man upon a throne with his arms akimbo. He clutched it tightly.

"When I was nineteen, I was watching a Formula One race on television. I don't remember where it was or who won. The announcers were French. I just remember that there was this one American racer who started out nearly in last position, but he managed to come all the way forward and finish third. I was astounded because no one had expected much of him, and yet he did so well. Even the French broadcasters noticed by the last few laps of the race. I had begun racing professionally myself not too long before, and I vowed that I would be like that man, to start with the odds against me and to show everyone what I could do."

He chuckled and shook his head. "I didn't even know that Gloria was a woman's name until they brought the drivers to the winners circle. I was astounded and shocked, and that night I realized I had fallen in love with her. She was so young and innocent looking...the same age I was. I thought she was some sort of goddess of racing."

Ali opened up the back of the pendant and removed a small magazine clipping, laminated and folded.

He passed it to Matt, who unfolded it. It was a picture of Gloria in a racing uniform, the colors belonging to her previous sponsor. Her hair was short in the back. She was not looking at the camera, but instead was gazing pensively elsewhere, caught in a serene moment by the photographer.

"Before every race, I prayed to her for guidance and speed. When I raced, I would whisper her name and it would give me strength and courage. She was my inspiration when it came to the track."

"And it worked..."

"You know how well I've done on the circuit," he smiled. "I like to give her credit for that."

Matt folded up the photograph and Ali tucked it back into his pendant of Vithoba. "It's a beautiful secret, Ali. I'll keep it as long as you do," he said gently.

"Thank you."

"I can understand now why you fainted. It's not every day that someone meets a goddess."

He laughed. "I've gotten used to the idea that she's real and that I might be seeing a lot more of her."

"There's a pretty good chance you will."

-o-o-o-o-o-

He decided to brave the stream water and take a bath while Gloria slept. This was the Amazon basin, sitting so close to the equator, so it couldn't be that cold. He rode Bullet to the stream he had found the day before, stripped down to his skin, and waded in. Grabbing handfuls of sand from the bottom he scoured himself briskly, all the while longing for hot water and perfumed soap and a sharp razor and all those simple things that made modern life so much more pleasant. "My father always said that the loss of comforts made one appreciate them all the more," he mused. Holding his breath, he ducked underneath the surface and rubbed at his scalp with stiff fingers.

When he decided he was as clean as plain water and sand were going to get him, Ali came out of the stream, grabbed his towel, and blotted himself dry. It was just a small towel he kept in Bullet's storage compartment for wiping off the windshield, and was soon wet, but at least he was dry enough to dress again.

He pulled on his clothing quickly and smoothed his hair with his fingertips by the blue-white glow of the flashlight. He had become accustomed to the warm aura of the crystal, and the artificial light of Bullet's headlamp and the flashlight now seemed glaring and harsh. As he tugged on his armored suit, he thought he might look again at the breakdown blocking the exit to the cave. Perhaps Vortex could find a weak spot in the mass. He had nothing he could simply blast the blocks with—an electric stun gun was not going to do anything, and Shark's front end, the end with the weapons, had been destroyed. He tried to remember what weapons Condor carried and just about slapped himself when he recalled something about an anti-matter cannon. Lingering no longer, he grabbed the flashlight and leapt onto Bullet, all too eager to see if perhaps there was a way out right in front of them.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Gloria woke but did not rise, remaining as she was, looking at the crystal. What strange things Ali had said about it. How could it be alive? And a god? What was that about? Admittedly there was something different, something unexpected about this energy source VENOM had found. It did seem to recognize them and respond to their presence and touch.

She tossed off the lightweight blanket and hopped off of the altar. Already the crystal was greeting her with a warm pulse of light. She walked up to it, studying the brighter orange bands pulsing through it.

Suddenly remembering her fellow prisoner, she looked over to where he had gone to sleep. His jacket and Vortex were there, but he was gone. Bullet was gone too. "Did he go off exploring again?" she asked the crystal.

The crystal answered with a flicker of dark orange light that crept across the floor.

Gloria stepped closer and dared to touch it for the first time.

The gentle hum it emitted rose in pitch and the blue light sparked excitedly around her fingers much like it had for Ali. It felt warm beneath her touch and vibrated ever so slightly.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Matt hit the switch that lifted the platform into the control center ceiling. As it rose, he slipped off his shoes and climbed up onto the table. "Take your shoes off and come up here, Gloria."

She did so, and as the platform locked into place, Matt pressed a button on a remote control.

The "spider", as most of the agents called it, descended from its nest in the ceiling. Matt slid forward on his knees to the central spindle and opened up a small chamber just above the spider's legs. He removed a pair of cotton gloves from the box he had brought with him and tugged them on. Carefully he opened an inner door and lifted a sapphire-colored gem from a mount inside the chamber.

"The crystal..." Gloria breathed. This was the first time she had ever seen it.

"Hold out your hands," he told her, and he placed it into her cupped palms.

It was roughly the size of a lemon and sparkled a scintillating sky blue, the same color as Matt's eyes.

"Matt...it's beautiful," she whispered, awestruck at the thing she held.

"Beautiful and powerful. It was my father's most prized possession, and now mine as well. Without it, there would be no MASK."

"It's warm," she said, entranced by the way it glittered.

"It's alive," he responded. "Just hold it while I clean the system here."

"Hold it? That's all you need me to do?"

"Yep. Look into it...look deeply into it," he said slowly in a low voice. From the box, he took out a can of compressed air and began his monthly servicing of the charging system, blowing out any dust and carefully polishing the lenses with a linen towel.

And while he worked, she sat there, staring as if hypnotized by the magnificent gemstone. Now and then it would flicker with a royal purple spark of energy, and she would smile.

In time Matt held out his hands, draped by another linen cloth. "All right. Let me have it back now."

"Already? That was quick. You only just gave it to me."

He chuckled.

Gloria put the crystal into the cloth and he delicately polished it and replaced it in the mount inside of the chamber. Giving it a final burst of compressed air, he closed the inner door and then the chamber door.

"Thank you for showing it to me," she said, her heart feeling light.

"I've been trying to get all of the agents to hold it at some point. Holding it seems to improve the bond between a mask and its wearer. You should start synching somewhere over ninety percent now."

"Really? That's strange."

Matt smiled wistfully, his eyes focused on something far away. "There are many strange things in the world, this crystal being one of them." He pressed a couple of buttons on the remote control and the spider retracted into the ceiling and the platform descended.

Alex was waiting below, two mugs of hot chocolate in his hands. "About time you two came down. Matt, Buddie wants you in the garage."

"All right. I'll head there now." He slid off the table and began putting his shoes back on.

Gloria did the same. "We weren't that long, Alex. What...ten, fifteen minutes?" Alex laughed, and handed her one of the mugs. "Mmm, thanks." She immediately drank the entire contents. "That was just what I needed."

Matt was grinning to himself as he collected the box and tucked it away into a cabinet.

"Try an hour and a half," said Alex. He took the empty mug from her hands and gave her the full one.

"What? An hour and a half?"

"Look at your watch," called Matt from across the room.

She did. "It didn't seem like even close to that long. No way. It couldn't have been...my watch must be off." She drained the second mug, not even aware that she was drinking from it.

Matt waved a goodbye to Alex and Gloria and headed for the garages.

"The crystal does that," Alex explained. "It's rather strange and we don't know why, but it does."

"So what was I doing there for an hour and a half? Was I unconscious?"

"Unlikely. You were probably just sitting there holding it. Last month it kept Hondo for almost three hours. It seemed to have a lot to talk to him about."

"Seriously? That long?" She was still trying to wrap her mind around the situation. "It really did seem like just a few minutes."

"There's a reason Matt tucks a book into his pocket before he goes up there with someone."

She raised the cup again to her lips and found it was empty. "Wow, I must have been thirsty."

Alex showed her the other empty mug.

"Wait...did I just drink both of those?"

Alex laughed. Her innocence was adorable. "Another side effect of close contact with the crystal. We've found that hot chocolate seems to work the best."

-o-o-o-o-o-

The sound of Bullet's engine in the first cavern drew Gloria's attention away from the crystal. But after a few minutes without him returning, and intrigued by the noises coming along the corridor, she walked out to find him.

He was crouched beside Condor, having set it upright again, and was closely examining the undercarriage.

"Ali! Whatcha doing?"

He looked up at her, a smile in his eyes. "Gloria. You're up. How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good actually."

"How is the pain?"

"I'm not feeling it."

"The medicines must work well."

"I guess so. The last dose I took was last night before I tucked down for some sleep. How long have you been up?"

"Only an hour or so. I went to take a bath in the stream we found yesterday."

"The one at the end of the tunnel? Was it cold?"

"Cool, but nowhere close to what I would like to be washing in."

She giggled. "Maybe I'll give it another day before I try. What are you doing with Condor?"

"I suddenly remembered there was that anti-matter cannon underneath it. I thought it might be our ticket out of here if it was still working, or if I could get it working."

"Of course! I can't believe I forgot about it too!"

"The engine is completely dead and the weapon isn't firing, but the electrical system is still charged and operational, so I might be able to do something with it."

She squatted down beside Condor and peered at it. "If we had Bruce or Buddie here, I'll bet they could have this fixed in a jiffy."

"I admit that I am not such a good mechanic, but I will try."

"I'm good with engines, but these weapons systems elude me." Her stomach rumbled audibly. "Ooh. I guess I'm hungry."

He laughed. "Mine has been saying the same thing for a while now."

"Let's go find something to eat. Condor can wait."

-o-o-o-o-o-

They had breakfast sitting together leaning against the altar—granola bars, bottled water, packages of peanuts, and a chocolate bar that Gloria had stashed away in Shark's glove-box.

"What I wouldn't give for a big bowl of rice and curry right now," Ali sighed.

"Mmmm... waffles with fruit for me," Gloria said.

"I suppose we should be thankful we have anything at all."

As they gathered up the wrappers from breakfast, Gloria remarked, "You know, I thought my leg would hurt a lot more today, but it doesn't."

"And you didn't take any more pain pills, right?"

"None since last night. I expected it to be sore at least." She reached down and prodded at her thigh, ginerly at first, but then with more pressure. "It's weird, Ali, but it almost feels like it's healed," she said, a touch of puzzlement in her voice. "I have to look," she blurted, decisiveness in her voice.

She untied the knot in Ali's scarf and unwrapped it, and then removed the bandages.

The two stared in silent disbelief at her bared thigh.

Apart from the dried blood on the scarf and bandages and her jeans, there was no sign that she had even been wounded.

She looked at him, their eyes meeting in shared confusion. "Last night...we pulled three of Stiletto's darts out of my leg, didn't we?" she asked him, her voice wavering.

He nodded. "We did...one here." He touched her leg. "One here." His finger moved to another point. "And one here...one that was nearly completely sunken into your leg." He leaned close, staring at the spot where he remembered trying to grasp the dart without causing her too much pain. She had whimpered and cried, an operation of many tears and much blood. "Impossible! There's not even a scar. Did we dream it?" He suddenly realized he had both of his hands on her thigh and pulled them back in embarrassment.

"The darts are here though..." On the corner of the altar, at the end of her gesture, still sat three steel darts wearing a patina of dried blood.

And in one movement, they both turned their heads toward the crystal.

"Ali, all the crazy things you said yesterday about the crystal, suddenly they don't sound so crazy..." she whispered.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Divinity continues in:

Chapter 8: Rescued

Chapter 9: The Dancer

-o-o-o-o-o-

I know some of you have been dying to read this installment—thanks for letting me know you're eagerly enjoying my work. If you enjoy an author's work on this site and want to read more, let them know. Feedback and reviews and messages are the biggest encouragement you can give!

Please feel free to send me a private message through this site.

M.A.S.K. and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of DIC Enterprises, Inc and Kenner Toys. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.


	8. Rescued

**Divinity**

**Chapter 8: Rescued**

"**So, the crystal at headquarters...it's one of these Anunnaki Crystals, isn't it?"**

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Hello! Anyone home?"

Gloria and Ali straightened at the sound of another voice, looking up from Condor to see Buddie Hawks standing there, the glow around Penetrator fading.

"Buddie!" Gloria squealed. She dropped her tools and ran over to him, flinging herself upon him with a big hug. "Am I glad to see you."

"Matt said you two were in a bit of a bind."

"No wonder they kept us waiting. They were bringing you down here."

"It was that or blast you out of here, but they didn't want to risk collapsing any more of the cavern or destroying any of the ruins." She let go of his neck and he pulled off his mask.

"How's Brad?"

"He's okay. They have him in the hospital at the village. Apparently he received a concussion and had a few cracked ribs, but he's doing all right."

"Thank goodness. We were worried about him."

"But how are you two? Oh God, Gloria, what happened?" He hunched down, staring at her cut up jeans permeated with her own dried blood.

"I took some hits from Rax's Stiletto mask."

"Damn. Are you okay?" He reached to the denim and pulled open the long cut to expose her leg. "Where were you hit?" he asked, looking for the damage.

"Three places on my thigh there, but they've healed already."

He looked up at her, and then stood, his puzzled expression one to match theirs of just a couple hours earlier.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you on the way back."

"This should be interesting. And speaking of interesting, the others talking about some giant crystal power source thing down here. Where's it at?"

"Over here...we've been making friends with it. It's amazing."

"Oh?"

"Come look." Gloria took his hand and pulled him in the direction of the inner chamber.

"Ali, you okay too?" Buddie asked.

He nodded as Gloria pulled Buddie away. And then he looked down at Condor. "I guess I'm finished with you."

-o-o-o-o-o-

The vehicles were retrieved from the cavern, first Bullet with Ali driving it, Buddie clinging tightly to him as Penetrator took them through the blockage. Next, Buddie returned using Firecracker, which was used to tow Shark through. And on a final trip, Condor was hoisted onto Firecracker, and Gloria was brought out along with it.

The return to Paranari brought out the story of what had happened in the cave, from the ceiling collapsing to the discovery of the healing of Gloria's leg, the latter being a little unbelievable as well as a little unnerving, but at the same time fascinating. And with what had been learned of the crystal, it was decided to simply let it sit there in the sealed cavern for now. VENOM would not be back, and the crystal would be safe there. Matt could retrieve it when the time was right.

Getting back to the village, the first order of business for the rescued pair was to visit Brad in the hospital. "They wouldn't let me out of here to come help get you out of the cave," complained Brad. "I should complain to the owner," he teased, glaring at Matt.

"I've heard the owner is a real hard case. I don't think he'd be any more sympathetic to your cause," retorted Matt.

"I'm just glad that you weren't injured any worse that you were," said Gloria, clutching his hand tightly. "When I saw you thrown by that explosion, I feared the worst."

Brad of course had to get a look at Gloria's leg as well. "I still can't believe the wounds healed up so quickly. If you were hit only yesterday, just after I got it, they should be barely closed."

"Ali and I had a hard time believing it ourselves. That's why I kept these." She reached into her pocket and pulled out the three steel darts, handing them to Brad.

"Ouch..."

Ali had been standing in the doorway to the hospital room, watching quietly, until Brad called him over. "Don't be shy. Get over here, Ali."

He bowed slightly. "I didn't want to be in the way."

"You're family now. You're supposed to be in the way."

"Yeah. Just ask Scott about that." Gloria shot Matt a wicked grin.

Ali approached and sat in the bedside chair that Matt vacated for him. "I'm going to go help the others load up the transport," Matt announced.

"Oh...I should be there for Shark as well." Gloria turned to Brad. "Would you mind if I went to help with that? I promise I'll come back here as soon as its loaded."

"I guess I know where I stand," moped Brad.

"You mean you didn't know already?"

"Pfft! Get going. And bring me back some chocolate or I won't forgive you."

"Ali and I already ate what I had." She winked at him and was out the door, joining Matt in the hallway.

And when they were gone, Brad looked over at Ali. "Thanks for taking care of her in there. I heard everything over the radio as you were all heading back."

"She took care of me first. She sheltered me from the explosion with Aura, the one that got you. And had it not been for her throwing me down, I would have taken some of those darts."

"Your first mission and she's already smacking you around. Welcome to the team."

Ali leaned back into his chair. "I must say, my first mission was not completely as expected. Giant caterpillars...stone maps...an ancient power source...getting trapped...getting rescued..."

"Getting rescued?"

"Buddie's Penetrator mask is a bit frightening. Normally I don't ride at full speed toward a wall of stone."

"Can't say I've ever tried it."

"I'm hoping not to again."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Gloria sat near the river watching Scott and the village children play in the shallows. It was good to see him laughing and interacting with other children. The language barrier meant nothing to them. He had even shed much of his usual modesty, dressing now as his peers did. He wore only a pair of shorts and sandals, his hair uncombed but confined by a bandana. A week of this and his skin would be as brown as theirs.

Matt lounged at her side, toying with a few blades of grass, one of his rare relaxed moments when he wasn't working on his companies or philanthropic work or saving the world.

"Matt?"

"Yes?"

"I know this is going to sound weird, but...the crystal we use at headquarters, what is it?"

"A power amplifier," he said casually. "It lets us carry a much larger charge in the mask batteries than they should."

"I know that, but the crystal itself. What is it? Where did it come from?"

He chuckled. "You're interested now that you've had contact with another of the Anunnaki Crystals. From everything you and Ali said, I'm certain that this 'energy source' was one of them, perhaps one of the largest of them."

"Anunnaki Crystals?"

"A set of powerful ancient crystals that have been around since before the history of man, but they were only recognized as a unit in the nineteenth century. They've appeared in most civilizations and great histories, scattered around the globe. They all contain certain powers and properties, and most even seem to have a...a..." He paused. "A personality."

"Ali said that this one, the one in the cavern, was a god."

"I suppose you could call it that, and they have been worshiped as such."

"He was always touching it...talking to it. Even I started to do the same."

"Sounds typical."

"So, the crystal at headquarters...it's one of these Anunnaki Crystals, isn't it?"

Matt nodded. "It is. From what my father wrote in his journals, it was one of a pair held by a primitive tribe in New Guinea. It was given to him by a young shaman named Warago, and he was charged with using it to bring good into the world. They called it the Star of Life."

"The crystal in the cave healed me. Ali and I couldn't believe it at first."

"The crystals have a number of known and unknown powers. Ours, it's good with controlling energy."

"And stalling time," she said, remembering her experience the first time she had been acquainted with the gem. "When we get back to the States, could...could I see it again?"

"I'll let you sleep with it under your pillow."

"Really?"

"Of course. I do sometimes. It helps me sort my thoughts out."

"I could use a bit of sorting out right now. That whole experience was rather strange."

Matt laughed softly and reached over to pat her arm reassuringly. Then he rolled onto his back and stared up at the sky as he chewed on a blade of grass. Overhead a parade of small cumulus clouds floated past in thin rows. His mind focused on the crystal in the cavern, the Imeri crystal. There was so much that could be done with it.

Buddie approached and seeing the others at rest, gave in and collapsed into the grass.

"Everything battened down?" Matt asked.

"Yep. We can take off at any time, though what's this about a big party in the village tonight?

-o-o-o-o-o-

One final chapter to Divinity! Keep watching for "Chapter 9: The Dancer" and the following commentary. Susan, this is the one you've been waiting for, though I still have a few surprises in store! And following Divinity I have two more stories to post soon.

"The Price of Commitment": Gloria Baker angst based upon two of her summoning scenes, taken from Episode 30: "The Lost Riches of Rio" and Episode 55: "The Plunder of Glowworm Grotto" in case you want to watch ahead.

"What Happened in Vegas": Probably one of the most titillating MASK stories you'll ever read, set during and after Episode 24: "Counter-Clockwise Caper." You'll love the plot twists and the humor. Rated M for some questionable behavior by the agents involved.

Please feel free to send me a private message through this site.

-o-o-o-o-o-

M.A.S.K. and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of DIC Enterprises, Inc and Kenner Toys. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.


	9. The Dancer

**Divinity**

**Chapter 9: The Dancer**

**Pausing, Gloria peered between the heads hoping to spot Ali. And then she realized that she was looking right at him. He was the dancer at the center of the circle.**

-o-o-o-o-o-

Speeches were made at the front of the hospital. Matt kept his pronunciation brief as it had to go through four translators to cover the various attendees. Amidst applause, Dr. Ferreira untied the ribbon looped around the doors of the hospital, designating it open to all.

Tables had been set up in the village plaza for all the food that had been prepared, and while most of the guests sat on grass matting on the ground, a dining table had been set up for the guest of honor, Scott, Alex, Dr. Ferreira, and the five other doctors who would be taking turns working at the hospital. Through the long meal, a number of people were brought forward to be introduced to Trakker and his son, mostly various headmen from the indigenous tribes in the jungle and some of the villages along the river. Dr. Ferreira would introduce them. Matt would greet them cordially. And then Alex would talk to them about the need for the destruction of the giant caterpillars if more were found. And often, as they spoke to Alex, they would look under the table at his feet.

A short distance away, the four other MASK agents, simply known as "Trakker's friends," lounged on the large grass mats, sampling the local cuisine and watching the party. Their uniforms had been exchanged for lighter-weight civilian clothing, much more comfortable in the Amazon heat. Brad had refused to stay in the hospital bed any longer, wanting to join the others. And after a while, Alex snuck away from the head table to join them, followed shortly by Scott and T-Bob. The endlessly repetitive introductions and ensuing translations had begun to wear on him despite the fascinating appearance of many of the native chiefs, all done up in ceremonial feathers and paint and raiment. But soon some of his new friends in the village came by and he and T-Bob ran off to play with them.

There were foot races and wrestling matches and archery competitions. As the light of day faded, bonfires were lit and the drumming and dancing began. Various tribes performed some of their traditional dances, mixed with a few popular dances, and in some places around the plaza, modern music came from battery operated players. Sometimes some of the locals would come past and try to get the agents to join in, and when they managed to get Ali up and away, he did not return. A fellow came past with a guitar and after a serenade, Brad borrowed the instrument from him and serenaded back. And then he sung a couple of lively traditional American tunes, much to the delight of the children hanging around to stare at the foreigners. Alex in particular was a great source of fascination for them. Some of them even went so far as to come up and touch his shoes.

The full moon rose and the older folks began slipping away for the night, while the younger ones continued the revelry. Matt and Dr. Ferreira managed got away from the head table finally and came over to the others. Additional matting was pulled over so they could all sit together.

"Antonia, I have to ask you something," said Alex. "Why is it that everyone here is so fascinated with my feet?"

She laughed. "Because they are checking to see if you are a Curupira. It's a monster found in Brazilian folklore, especially in this region."

"And...I look like one?"

"Well, the Curupira has bright red hair, protects the forest, and has his feet on backwards."

"Two out of three isn't bad," said Matt. "Perhaps you are."

"My red hair got me a bit of the same reaction when I first started working in this area though yours is much brighter. Think of it as a compliment, Alex." She turned to Trakker. "When will you be leaving, Matt?" she asked.

"Tonight, at midnight. I have business to get back to in the States, and most of the rest of us do to."

"Leaving at midnight?" Hondo asked for clarification.

"Midnight, yes."

"I'm glad you came, Matt. It meant a lot to the people here." Dr. Ferreira smiled at him.

"That's nice to hear."

It was about that time that Ali managed to return to the group. Several teenage girls were holding onto his arms. When they saw Dr. Ferreira sitting there they immediately began talking to her in a mix of Portuguese and something more local. And then she tittered a soft laugh and addressed Ali. "They want to know if you are married, and if you are, will your wife allow additional wives. Polygamy is practiced here, you know."

"Wives?" Ali made a choking noise as his fellow agents laughed at the humor of the situation. "Aren't they a bit young to be married?"

"Life is short and difficult here. The people marry young, usually in their mid-teens. They're probably thinking you're a bit on the old side," said the doctor.

Ali looked somewhat distressed.

"Sorry, but tell the ladies he's not available," said Matt, attempting to rescue Ali while trying to suppress his own amusement.

The doctor did so, and the girls looked genuinely disappointed, and then spoke more with her, their tones much more pleading. But the doctor would not even talk to Ali for them. They sighed and looked at him with the most charming looks they could muster.

"Please tell them there are plenty of local men about that would make a better husband for them," Ali begged.

"There's Alex, who's two thirds local," teased Buddie. "What's the name of that monster again?"

"You're not much help," moaned Alex. He grabbed Buddie's hat off of his head and slapped him lightly with it.

"Would you like me to tell them to leave you alone, Mr. ..."

"Bombay."

"Would you like me to tell them to leave you alone, Mr. Bombay."

"I don't want to cause any misunderstandings or hurt feelings, so that might be best. Could you tell them just that?"

She did, and the the girls looked genuinely disappointed and walked away sadly.

Ali sat down with the others at the edge of the mat, sighing.

"Heartbreaker," Brad huffed at him teasingly. He strummed the guitar in a little musical cue.

"Oh, like you're one to talk, Brad," grinned Gloria. She was lying on her back in front of him, her hands beneath her head and her toes tucked under Buddie's leg. "How many starry-eyed girls do you have to chase away after a concert these days?"

"Enough that I've started hiring a security guard for my dressing room."

"Oh, the problems I'll never have to deal with," laughed Hondo. You with me on this, Alex?"

"Amen, brother."

"Buddie? Matt?"

"Well I will tell you this," said Ali defensively. "When I get home to California, it'll be back to being another faceless immigrant."

Suddenly a group of men came past, their dress and facepaint indicating that they were of one of the more distant tribes in the area. They immediately found Ali and dragged him to his feet. "What do they want?" he cried to Dr. Ferreira.

She asked them, and the answer was: "They want you to meet their best drummers."

Ali's panicked expression relaxed. For a moment he had worried that these were the girls' relatives dragging him away to a shotgun wedding.

The doctor exchanged a few more words with the men before they took Ali away willingly. "They said they saw you dancing with the Paruinga drummers, and they want you to come dance for theirs," she translated.

"Rival tribes?"

"You could say that."

"I suppose I'll be learning all of the regional politics soon," said Matt. "Where the caterpillars bared the jungle floor, we found a number of Malaka ruins, and they're within the borders of the protection and sustainable development grant I was issued. I'm thinking of setting up an archaeological team to investigate them, and those at another site we discovered to the north."

"So we might be seeing much more of you."

"Possibly. Now that there's a landing strip here, the area is much more accessible."

Hondo stood and stretched his arms. "I'm going to take a walk around. Gloria, want to come with me?" He extended his hand to her.

She took it and let him pull her up. "I've been living in that cavern so long, I really should get out and see the world."

"Take your club with you, cavewoman," Buddie snorted. "You might run into some dinosaurs."

"Anyone else want to come with?" Hondo offered.

"Oh, I'll come," said Buddie and he lurched to his feet.

Gloria linked her arms into those of her escorts. "Let's go have some fun," she giggled.

"If you spot Ali, tell him we're leaving at midnight. I don't think he got the word," Matt called after them.

Dr. Ferreira reclined a little more. "If you decide to bring in an archaeological team, let me know and I'll be able to help with the arrangements."

"Thank you."

"Alex, will you be coming down here again?" she asked.

"It depends. I do keep pretty busy in the States, but I like to get away now and then. This would be a nice place to visit in the winter."

"There is neither winter nor summer here," she replied. "There's just green and warmth and humidity."

"Which sounds delightful in January when there's a foot of snow outside my door and the thermometer has a negative reading."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Buddie, Hondo, and Gloria wandered through the village and around the plaza, watching the locals celebrate the opening of the hospital. Paranari was changing, and for the better. The warm, humid night seemed so alive and full of life, full of people laughing and singing and playing. Music came from everywhere. The bright moon hung in the eastern sky, presiding over everything with a warming light.

They passed a tightly gathered group encircling two campfires, a dancer at the center following the beat of the drummers. Pausing, Gloria peered between the heads hoping to spot Ali. And then she realized that she was looking right at him. He was the dancer at the center of the circle.

He had taken off his shirt and sandals, dancing barefoot and bare-chested in the dust for a rapt crowd. Someone had painted his chest and upper arms with long white stripes. His lithe form spun and twisted in the firelight. Sometimes his movements were aggressive and hard. Sometimes they were soft and flowing. And his style matched nothing Gloria had ever seen before, a strange mix of various ethnic types with a few modern moves thrown in.

Buddie and Hondo came closer, seeing that something had caught Gloria's attention. "It's Ali," she said. "He's dancing here."

The three agents stood in amazement at the performance of the fourth. "In the cavern, he told me he was a dancer, but I didn't really believe him," Gloria confessed.

"He's actually a dance teacher," Hondo said. "Matt told me that he was adding another teacher to the team, so of course I had to find out. He teaches at a large studio that specializes in different ethnic styles."

"No wonder those guys came and dragged him away. He's really good."

"Don't stare too long or you'll fall in love," whispered Buddie in her ear.

When the drummers changed their rhythm, Ali retreated to the sidelines, where several of the spectators gathered around him. Some of the teenage girls were back, and they grabbed him and kissed his face and shoulders. Someone pushed a bottled soda into his hands, a luxury item this far from civilization.

And just then Ali caught sight of his fellow agents. His face showed a bit of embarrassment as he extracted himself from the clinging girls and trotted between the firepits to join the three. "Are we leaving now?" he asked.

"Not yet. You have a couple more hours," said Hondo.

"Ali, your dancing was wonderful. I loved watching it," Gloria gushed.

"Well thank you," he said modestly.

"We were just wandering around and checking things out and spotted you." explained Hondo. "We weren't sure if you were there when Matt said we were going to leave at midnight."

"Not that we'd leave without you, though it looks like some of those girls wouldn't mind if you were stuck here," said Buddie with a smirk.

Ali looked pained. "I wish I could tell them I cannot stay."

"Don't worry. They all seemed to get the message when Dr. Ferreira told them earlier."

He brightened a little.

The sound of T-Bob screaming turned their heads, and they all turned to see the robot running past with a dozen or so laughing children chasing him.

"Can't take him anywhere, can you?" Hondo moaned. "Anyway, see you at the transport at midnight, Ali."

"I will be there," he replied dutifully.

"See you later, Ali," said Gloria sweetly, grabbing onto Hondo's arm as he began to walk away.

Buddie caught up and took her other arm again.

"Trapped alone with him for fifteen hours and I had no idea he could dance so beautifully," she sighed.

"Told you not to stare for too long," Buddie mumbled.

She pinched his side. "Jealous, Buddie?"

"I can dance."

"Not like that, you can't."

She smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder playfully. These were the best of times, the hours after a successful mission where she could enjoy the company of the others. She tried not to cloud her good mood with thoughts of what would have happened if VENOM had really gained control of the orange crystal. If it was indeed one of these Anunnaki crystals, it was perhaps best left sealed in the cavern, away from people like Mayhem. For now, the lonely divinity would have to remain lonely.

And suddenly, she felt sorry for it.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Ali took a deep breath and walked forward to the place between the firepits, goaded into another dance by the locals. He assumed his stance, closed his eyes, and waited for the musicians to begin. Surprisingly the flautist began first, a willowy winding tune he followed first with his fingers and then his hips, and finally his feet. The drummers soon joined in.

Despite having been forced by his mother to study dancing, he loved it. When he had music and bare feet, the world could crumble around him, and he would not notice. And now as he danced he kept his eyes shut. The blaze of the firepits against his painted skin was all he needed to keep his position. The crowd of strange faces faded away, leaving him alone with the singing of the flute and beat of the drums. His thoughts turned back to the completed mission.

Like he had said to Brad earlier, his first mission had not been completely as expected. There were all these mysterious elements added to the action. MASK had met the enemy, and he had faced them boldly, though without success as far as stopping them. He vowed to spend more time in target practice, and perhaps he could find a way to start using Bullet's grappling hook as a weapon. There had to be some method of using it offensively.

He had been pleased, as well as a bit relieved, to find Brad at MASK headquarters preparing to leave on the same mission. Brad had been something of a mentor for him since joining the team, and he had promised Ali that he would help if needed. As he danced, his hand formed a fist over his sternum, a symbol of strength and unity. He felt something of a kinship with his fellow motorcyclist—the first of the MASK agents he had ever met. The other agents somewhat intimidated him still, but at least he could turn to Brad. His feet traced a few steps of the favorite dance he used to perform with his brother.

And then there was Gloria, his blue-eyed goddess of racing. A smile crept across his face and he spun faster as he thought of her. It had been fifteen surreal hours spent in the cavern, trapped alone with her and the crystal, fifteen hours spent with a god and a goddess. He lifted his arms high above his head and pressed his fingertips together, the posture echoing the shape of the orange divinity. How many times in the cave had he told himself to forget who she was? To ignore what she meant to him? The thought of her discovering that he had loved and worshiped her for all these years horrified him

But his fears of what might possibly happen would not stop him.

Wrapped in his silk scarf was a tiny piece of her jeans, a blood-soaked scrap that had torn off when she had cut the cloth open, a miniature relic to preserve and keep secretly. Once home, he would carefully laminate it and place it into the pendant of Vithoba, and part of her would always be with him, blessing him with courage and strength and success in every race.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Thank you for reading my piece of MASK fanfiction! I hope you've enjoyed it and the changes I've made to Episode 13: The Creeping Terror. My author notes follow in the commentary, if you're interested in a few footnotes and my thoughts regarding this piece.

M.A.S.K. and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of DIC Enterprises, Inc and Kenner Toys. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.


	10. Divinity Commentary

Divinity Commentary

-o-o-o-o-o-

If ever a guy got a bad "first appearance," it had to be Ali Bombay in Episode 68: "Homeward Bound." He comes with no back-story into an episode which really needed some previous appearances to defend it, and spends the whole time getting puked on by Lester Sludge while listening to Ace Riker whine about fishing and do bad John Wayne impressions. Episode 13: "The Creeping Terror" was in my opinion one of the worst first season episodes, full of way too much "Huh?" and "Wtf?" and "Why did they do/say that?" So here is my attempt at taking two bad episodes and making things right. As Zarius said, it's a "fixfic" and I think I've done it justice.

...And it gave me a chance to introduce a bit of metaphysics and mysticism into MASK...

The "energy source" of Episode 13 was completely victimized by script writers that I suspect were working with a looming deadline. So little of the story made sense (see my commentary for "The Elephant and the Orchid for a good example) especially regarding the crystal. When the energy source is discovered, VENOM runs away, the computer says it's overloading, and Alex tells the team to destroy it, which they do by tricking two giant caterpillars into eating it. Huh? So here, I wanted to give the Imeri crystal a reason to survive, and before I knew it, I had tied in the "Star of Life" sitting in MASK headquarters.

The village of Paranari does exist...a named settlement along the Rio Negro in northern Brazil, just south of the Venezuelan border. There is very little there...certainly no airstrip, no hospital, and not even much in the way of buildings. But it gave me a good location to install the elements of the original episode, which was only described as the Amazon Jungle. The Pico de Neblina National Park extends to the river from what I could tell—there really is very little information I could find on this region. What was really funny in doing my research was how many travel companies wanted to book me into hotels or find me a rental car in Paranari...lol...darn cookies. I'll just go stay with Doctor Antonia Ferreira, who didn't even have a name or more than a brief appearance in Episode 13, so I just found a typical Portuguese sounding name for her.

Yes, there really is a legend about a red-haired demon/monster thing in the Amazon Jungle called a Curupira. That I did not invent—I only stumbled into it when looking for a location for this story and thought it was a fun little bit of something to throw in since Alex was there.

My use of Ali was like taking a skeleton and fleshing it out, because really, he's little more than a skeleton of a character in the Racing Series. I think a lot of this is because there were never the "summoning scenes" which gave us so much insight into the characters with just a few strokes of the brush. Also, there was so little plot-wise to the racing series, he didn't get to do much more than ride around dodging VENOM. In some ways, working with Ali was more like developing an original character. I could do so much with him because there is so little known about him. He's chivalrous, independent, a bit naive, and somewhat intimidated by the other agents. He lives in the US, working as a dance teacher and racing motorcycles on the weekends. Despite the change of location, he remains very attached to his life before emigrating. He loves his native foods, speaks Marathi (his native language), specializes in classical Indian dance (but knows and teaches many more styles), worships Vithoba (a manifestation of the god Vishnu), and plans to return eventually to India for marriage and "settling down."

Gloria is completely unaware of his secret worship of her, and at this point, I doubt she ever will be. His feelings for her will always remain those of a secret devotee. He is happy to regard her as his Goddess of Racing and keep her on a pedestal, especially as the Imeri crystal seems to have "claimed her" in his perception. Remember, Indian religion is full of gods and their consorts and relations. For him it would be natural that a god would seek out an unattached goddess as a bride.

I'm planning to bring out Ali and the Anunnaki crystals again in another fic or two. There is so much untapped possibility for them. Ali has interesting characteristics, a great mask, a cool vehicle, and can provide a very different perspective given his foreign background. And the crystals...they're beautiful and can do almost anything needed plot-wise. I did bring out Miss Wu again in my short piece "The Elephant and the Orchid," and if inspired I'll get her back out again. She is a delightful character in that she gives a bit more dimension to VENOM and Mayhem.

Originally, Episode 13 starts with Matt and Alex, and then Brad and Hondo are summoned. I took the liberty of having the computer summon Gloria and Ali as well, and we get a bit of Buddie at the end. Why Gloria? Besides the fact that she's one of my favorite characters to write about, before I began work on Divinity I had written a number of pages, thinking of turning it into a fic set during the Racing Series. It had Gloria and Ali trapped in a large cave together and followed their efforts to survive together in a pitch black, cold environment together. A large chunk of that was lifted into Divinity and adapted (the Gloria/Ali scenes in chapters 5 & 6, as well as Ali's waking and bath scenes in chapter 7). In that piece, he does confess his history to Gloria (that confession went to Matt in chapter 7 of Divinity). There was also a great fight scene involving Ali, Dagger, Gloria, and Rax which I'm planning on using once I get Ali back out into another story. The piece was titled "Seven Years" which was how long Ali had known and loved Gloria.

And, speaking of extras, here's the original final moment of "Divinity," written before I had decided upon closing the story with the celebration for the hospital dedication. It takes place on the transport plane headed home that night.

Enjoy!

-o-o-o-o-o-

Gloria felt a hand on her shoulder, shaking her softly. She pulled off her frilly sleep mask and opened her eyes to find Hondo leaning against her bunk, his index finger pressed against his lips, his features defined by the blue nightlight above the door to the cockpit.

She put aside the sleep mask and extracted the earplugs from her ears. "What's up?"

"I thought you'd want to see this," he whispered. Hondo beckoned for her to follow him.

She climbed out of the bunk and crept along the short corridor. The others were all asleep. Brad's arm dangled from his bed onto the floor. Alex was snoring. Matt had that funny way of sleeping with his arm across his eyes. Scott was bunched up onto the bunk above his father's with T-Bob. Buddie, though she could not see his face, was obvious from the way he slept with the blankets pulled over his head. And Ali's bed was empty...

Hondo slowly opened the door that led to the cargo bay and they slipped inside, closing the door behind them.

There in the darkened cargo bay, in the gap between Rhino and Thunderhawk, was Ali. Barefoot and bare chested, he wore a pair of loose pants slung low on his waist and an MP3 player on his upper arm. His eyes were closed and his face was perfectly serene. And he was dancing.

-o-o-o-o-o-


End file.
